Blogs

Follow your gut, not money or title or what-ifs or has-beens, when it comes to making your own career and company. So goes this sage advice, and much more, from author, teacher, and PR entrepreneur Lynne Golodner, founder of Your People, LLC and Parenting Without a Map.

Mahendra Ramsinghani, our guest blogger this week asks: "By attracting a few entrepreneurs, a lot of economic challenges could be addressed. But could a bumper sticker attract the right entrepreneurs?"  Read his final post to learn the answer.Ramsinghani is with Plymouth Venture Partners in Ann Arbor. Check back here weekdays for more posts.

While kiosks and bulletin boards are still littered with those hangy tear-off strip fliers, they've been overshadowed by interactive web directories, where visitors can post reviews and find hip happenings. Give a shout-out to Mariah Cherem, Metro Detroit community manager for Yelp.com, who will be reviewing the benefits of community and sense of place.

The new Detroit Revitalization Fellowship Program garnered 650 applicants for 30 spots -  proof positive that the city's real estate is a hot topic. A trio from CREW Detroit, the founding member of a national organization of women commercial real estate pros, blogs on how their group and incoming fellows will be stamping a new ID on the city.

Mark Adler is the president of VAIdigital LLC, a video support company for the film industry. Mark also manages the Michigan Production Alliance, a trade organization whose mission is to create a more stable financial environment for Michigan's production community. From local projects to Hollywood films, he will be writing about Metro Detroit's emerging opportunities and challenges.

Mark Maynard publishes the magazine Crimewave USA, puts out records, comics and blogs when others sleep. He is one of the founders of Ypsilanti's popular Shadow Art Fair, co-chair of YpsiVotes, and a member of Ypsilanti's 2020 Task Force on the future of the city. He has a keen interest in economic development and will be writing about why he's enthusiastically chosen to live in Ypsilanti.

Mark Nickita is the cofounder of the award-winning multi-disciplinary design firm Archive Design Studio. A resident of Birmingham, Mark was selected by Crain's Detroit as one of its 40 under 40 business leaders, is the winner of several architectural & urban design awards and sits on the Birmingham Planning Board. Mark will be writing about Metro Detroit's need for livable, workable, and walkable urban neighborhoods.

Ideally Detroit's buildings should be as changeable as a set of Legos; the reality is a bit different. Architect Mark Nickita, co-founder of Archive Design Studio, returns to write about the repositioning of under-producing properties and why cities are best seen on foot.

If you're busy on-task in the working world, it helps to pause and think for a minute. Mark Stutrud, president of Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, writes on the messy, loving human services business and on training our entrepreneurial gaze higher.

With Michigan Public Act 295 the state must obtain 10% of its energy from renewable sources by 2015. As the wind turbine blades turn, alternative energy employment is becoming a vast new horizon for the region. Mary Templeton, an Executive VP at Wind Energy Consulting and Contracting, explains her career switch from the auto industry to renewable energy, and Michigan's efforts to foster talent in this new field.

He said, she said. This week's guest bloggers are Matt Clayson and Rose Giffen. Matt works as a Promotion Manager with ePrize, serves the Chair of Leadership Next and is active on Detroit Renaissance's "Road to Renaissance" initiative. Rose is the Director of Fund Development for the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity & Inclusion. She also serves as Vice-Chair of Leadership Next. Rose and Matt will be writing about developing strong leadership in SE Michigan and engaging new talent.

Our guest blogger for this week is Maud Lyon. Maud is the founding director of the Cultural Alliance, and a consultant for numerous nonprofit organizations.Check back here each week day to read Maud's thoughts on the state of arts and culture in Michigan.

To be competitive, governments must reach out to their communities – and, even, past international borders. Maureen Krauss, director for the Department of Economic Development and Community Affairs for Oakland County, discusses the role of events and the county's overseas trade missions in business development.

"All the world's a stage", as Shakespeare said... "world" being the operative term for next-gen Detroiters. Enter Megan Miller, director of programs at the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, who holds forth on why the city's young residents should step outside its urban limits.